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South Africa’s top five retailers committed to renewable energy vision, says Greenpeace

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South Africa’s top five retailers committed to renewable energy vision, says Greenpeace

South Africa’s top five retailers (Pick n Pay, Massmart, Spar, Woolworths and Shoprite) have a major role to play in shaping sustainable growth in the energy sector and need to champion South Africa’s transition to 100% renewable energy, according to a report launched on Tuesday by Greenpeace Africa.

Shoprite received the lowest ranking because of its lack of transparency with regard to the company’s energy information
Shoprite received the lowest ranking because of its lack of transparency with regard to the company’s energy information

The report, titled “Shopping Clean – Retailers and Renewable Energy”, marks the launch of a new Greenpeace campaign “Renewable Energy Champions” initially aimed at getting the country’s top five retailers to show solar energy some love. The report outlines how retail companies in South Africa have made a start in the transition to 100% renewable energy. It also details the current status of renewable energy investments and commitments from each of the top five retailers in South Africa.  The retailers are ranked against one another on four key criteria – energy transparency, commitment to renewable energy, greenhouse gas mitigation and lobbying for clean renewable energy.

In the report, Woolworths ranks highest with an overall score of four out of 10. Woolworths and Pick n Pay currently have solar PV installations that contribute a small percentage of renewable energy to their overall operations. Massmart and Woolworths have both identified pilot solar PV projects for distribution centres and stores respectively that will be rolled out in 2016. Shoprite received the lowest ranking because of its lack of transparency with regard to the company’s energy information.

“Ranking the five retailers against one another makes it clear that none of them are doing particularly well when it comes to a commitment to a 100% renewable energy vision. Also, none of the retailers are engaged in active lobbying for the barriers to renewable energy to be removed, which is an essential step if a 100% vision is to be achieved, and this has heavily impacted on their scores,” stated Penny-Jane Cooke, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.

If the annual electricity consumption for each of the top five retailers is compared to the average electricity consumption of households in South Africa, Pick and Pay, for example, could liberate enough electricity to supply 65,000 households in South Africa by switching to 100% renewable energy. Woolworth’s electricity consumption is enough to power 55,000 households whilst Massmart could power 53,000 households. Collectively, the retailers can free up enough energy to power at least 178 400 households.

“This campaign provides an opportunity for Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Spar, Woolworths and Massmart to take the lead and show the millions of South Africans who support them that they really care about the future of this country. Renewable energy provides a real opportunity for South Africa to move away from a developmental path based on polluting coal and expensive nuclear power.  The five leading South African retailers have begun to take steps towards a renewable-powered future, but the current levels of ambition are clearly inadequate, which means that there is significant room to improve,” added Cooke.

By switching to a 100% renewable energy, stated Greenpeace, retailers will reduce their current electricity consumption, thus decreasing pressure on the grid and reducing the need for load shedding. Possibly most importantly of all, retailers will be opening up the space for millions of South Africans to generate their own power through lobbying government for better renewable energy legislation.

“Greenpeace believes that Pick n Pay, Massmart, Spar, Woolworths and Shoprite can lead South Africa to a clean energy future by making a commitment to 100% renewable energy. They also need to articulate how they will achieve this vision in the short and long term, make the required investments and take the next step by lobbying government to remove the barriers to renewable energy for the benefit of their loyal consumers and the country,” ended Cooke.

Nigeria seeks UN Environment Assembly vice-presidency

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Nigeria seeks UN Environment Assembly vice-presidency

Nigeria’s aspiration for the vice presidency of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) received a major boost on Monday as the sixth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) got underway.

Nigeria's Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed. Photo credit: i.vimeocdn.com
Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed, is hoping to be one of the two UNEA  vice-presidents from Africa. Photo credit: i.vimeocdn.com

Speaking to over 40 ministers of the environment and heads of country delegations at the forum, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment, who represented the senior minister, expressed the country’s delight to present Mrs. Amina Mohammed for nomination as one of the two Vice Presidents from Africa on the bureau of the UNEA 2.

Alhaji Jibril hinged his senior minister’s nomination on her eminent status as one of the architects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and her focal commitment to the African cause in the global effort to achieve sustainable development as well as the environmental dimension of Agenda 2063.

The Minister of State further expressed Nigeria’s support for the AMCEN process aimed at presenting a unified African position at the forthcoming UNEA2, May 2016 year in Nairobi, Kenya.

Nigeria, according to him, believes that the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) and the African Adaptation initiative (AAI) are veritable tools for sustainable development on the continent in the near future.

“Nigeria considers building capacity and retooling the youths of Africa through education and employment as a necessary and urgent requirement for sustainable development in Africa. The continent is well endowed with enormous human resources and is still growing. We should invest in this precious resource for Africa’s renaissance,” he said.

Welcoming the Paris Agreement and encouraging its implementation especially as it relates to African realities taking into account respective nationally determined contributions, Nigeria called for investments in Africa’s green growth as a catalyst to achieving the climate SDGs and the Agenda 2063.

On their own part, the African Civil Society Coalition under the aegis of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) believes that UNEA should be the rallying point for Africa’s environmental consciousness, and called for all stakeholders to continue supporting UNEP-RoA which hosts the AMCEN Secretariat.

Over time, UNEP RoA has distinguished itself as the centre of action in environmental discourses in Africa.

UNEA was formed following a call by world leaders at the UN conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June 2012. The aim of the UNEA is to strengthen and upgrade UNEP as the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda and by establishing universal membership in its Governing Council – a 58-member governing body of UNEP in place since 1972.

Subsequently, at the first universal session of the UNEP Governing Council held in February 2013, member states recommended to the UN General Assembly that the Governing Council be renamed the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme with universal membership.

In March 2013, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/67/251 that formally changed the name of the Governing Council to the United Nations Environment Assembly.

Now all 193 UN member states, observer states and other stakeholders participate in discussions and decision-making on issues that affect the state of the environment and global sustainability.

As the new governing body of UNEP, UNEA has the mandate to make strategic decisions, provide political guidance in the work of UNEP and promote a strong science-policy interface.

Railway route through Nairobi National Park abandoned

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Railway route through Nairobi National Park abandoned

While controversy rages in Nigeria over the proposed construction of a Cross River State-sponsored 260km, six-lane highway that threatens a pristine community forest as well as a National Park, the Kenyan government has abandoned a contentious blueprint of the standard gauge railway (SGR) that cut deep into the Nairobi National Park.

This December 2015 proposed route of the SGR has been abandoned. The railway will still cut through the park on a raised platform without making the deep cut into the park.
This December 2015 proposed route of the SGR has been abandoned. The railway will still cut through the park on a raised platform without making the deep cut into the park.

A committee that included some board members of the Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Railways had approved the design last December, which would have led to the destruction of about 20% of the park.

Environment Cabinet Secretary, Judi Wakhungu, said the ministry was not involved and demanded it be dropped. “It is the ministry that went to Kenya Railways to protest the design, saying it will destroy biodiversity. So it was shelved,” she told The Star recently. Wakhungu said the transport ministry is drawing another route.

The controversial drawing carved deep into the park for about 50km, before exiting near the KWS main gate on Lang’ata Road. This would compromise about 20% of the park, destroying key habitats and animal breeding grounds. A public hearing conducted after The Star reported the proposal last December nearly turned chaotic as the public opposed the design. KWS director Kitili Mbathi, who was installed as the service boss in February, confirmed the controversial design has been abandoned.

“There was an earlier design but it was rejected. The ministry is working on the new plan but it has not come to us,” he said. Kenya Railways MD Atanas Maina did not disclose what the new outline looks like.

“We are still looking at other projects across the world to see the best practices,” he said. The Star learnt the railway is likely to follow an earlier draft and still cut through the park on raised platforms, but without making the 50km detour. An Environmental Impact Assessment done for Kenya Railways last May showed this would still destroy 46ha of the park.

“The SGR realignment will make some park areas unusable by wildlife. The total area of wildlife habitat to be lost through this proposed realignment as land use will be about 46.7ha,” said Eston Murithi, the lead EIA specialist contracted by KR last year.

Fresh campaign for stronger global carbon pricing

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Fresh campaign for stronger global carbon pricing

There is growing global momentum to put a price on carbon pollution. About 40 national and 23 subnational governments have put in place carbon pricing mechanisms, covering 12 percent of global emissions.

Nearly half of the national pledges submitted in the run-up to the Paris COP21 climate conference reference carbon pricing, and new approaches are being rolled out in China, France, Canada and other countries.

The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, which brings together more than 20 governments and 90 companies, is holding its first High Level Assembly in Washington this week, where it will push for greater global support for stronger carbon pricing policies.

The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. Photo credit: World Bank Group/Jeff Martin
The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. Photo credit: World Bank Group/Jeff Martin

The Paris climate talks in December 2015 delivered a breakthrough consensus after decades of negotiations: the collective commitment of more than 190 countries to hold planetary warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less.

Less noticed, but just as important, was how the Paris Agreement accelerated action on carbon pricing – a key tool for accelerating economic transformation away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner production, improved lifestyles and reduced poverty.

Carbon pricing is not new – in 1991, Sweden implemented one of the world’s first carbon taxes to make pollution that causes climate change part of the economic equation. More than two decades later, Sweden has managed to use the tax to help decouple economic growth from emissions.

The Canadian province of British Columbia introduced its carbon tax in 2008, helping spawn a clean technology sector. To offset the burden on poorer families, the B.C. carbon tax includes a credit for low-income households.

Companies are also increasingly using carbon pricing. Brazilian chemical giant Braskem is using an internal carbon price of $37 to stress-test its business model. And – together with 20 other major Brazilian companies – Braskem is conducting a simulation of emissions trading before the government puts a program in place. Braskem joins a growing number of companies that are using carbon pricing to gain a competitive edge as the world economy moves onto a low carbon trajectory.

What do Sweden, British Columbia and Braskem have in common?  They are all part of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), a global initiative launched at the Paris climate talks with the goal of bringing together public-private support for carbon pricing around the world.

 

High Level Assembly

Now the coalition, bringing together more than 20 national and state governments along with more than 90 businesses, is holding its first High Level Assembly to build on the momentum of the Paris agreement by demonstrating and promoting the effectiveness of putting a price on carbon pollution.

The Assembly, held in Washington during the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, will introduce new partners into the CPLC – including governments like Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Finland and the United Kingdom; and companies including Iberdrola, Rusal, and Tata Group; and Yale University.

With the High-Level Assembly, the CPLC will step up its work of promoting and sharing evidence of successful carbon pricing mechanisms, through the new Principles for Successful Carbon Pricing and other tools. It will also push for greater business support of carbon pricing policies, and organize regional summits and other leadership dialogues to advance the use of carbon pricing systems.

 

Breakthrough Consensus

Today, some 40 governments and 23 cities, states and regions are putting a price on carbon, covering about 12 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, more than 450 companies around the world report using a voluntary, internal price on carbon in their business plans.

Countries are demonstrating the growing momentum. France recently introducing a new carbon tax. China has seven regional carbon market pilots in place and has announced a national emissions trading system to begin in 2017. At a sub-national level, Quebec has linked its emissions trading systems to California’s.

Nearly half of the national plans submitted in Paris reference carbon pricing, and the agreement included language in Article 6 for turning these plans into investment blueprints for low carbon development.

In Paris, heads of state including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet stood on stage together to call accelerated action on carbon pricing.

At its assembly, CPLC partners are taking on the role of monitoring global progress in designing and using carbon pricing systems. They will also pledge to provide support to countries that want to use carbon pricing as a way to implement the pledges they made in Paris.

That includes sharing lessons learned and emerging best practices, such as those provided by Sweden, British Columbia, Braskem and other carbon-pricing pioneers.

Why Nigeria will not endorse Paris Agreement on 22 April

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Why Nigeria will not endorse Paris Agreement on 22 April

There are indications that Nigeria will not participate in the Signature Ceremony of the Paris Agreement scheduled to hold this week in New York. However, the nation’s representatives will grace the occasion.

President Buhari addressing the UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, in Paris, France on 30th Nov 2015
President Buhari addressing the UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, in Paris, France on 30th Nov 2015

The Paris Agreement will be open for signature by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 22 April and will remain open for signature for one year.

Already, a record number of countries have said they intend to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change at a high-level ceremony at the United Nations headquarters on Friday, on Mother Earth Day.

“The number of countries that have indicated their intentions to attend and sign the Paris Agreement on 22 April is now up to 155,” said UN Secretary General’s spokesperson, Farhan Haq, last Friday.

This, he added, would be a landmark in international law, as the number of signatories of the Paris Agreement would then surpass the previous record of 119 signatures for an opening day signing for an international agreement, set by the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay in 1982.

But Nigeria is not among the 155 listed countries and Acting Director, Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Peter Tarfa, confirmed on Monday that the nation would not endorse the international treaty for now.

He said: “Nigeria will be at the (signature) ceremony to grace the event, but will not sign the Paris Agreement that day. In fact, we have no plan to do so for now. We still have a year-long window of opportunity to sign the Agreement.

“We are not signing for now because we need to conduct and conclude an internal consultation process so as to get the buy-in from every one of us. Stakeholders need to know and examine the situation.”

But a source disclosed that the internal consultation process may be concluded before September, when President Muhammadu Buhari, while attending the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 71) at the UN Headquarters, will likely sign the treaty.

The list of States that will participate in the Signature Ceremony on 22 April and is subject to change:

  1. Afghanistan*
  2. Albania*
  3. Algeria*
  4. Andorra*
  5. Antigua and Barbuda*
  6. Argentina*
  7. Australia*
  8. Austria*
  9. Bahamas*
  10. Bahrain
  11. Bangladesh*
  12. Barbados**
  13. Belarus*
  14. Belize**
  15. Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
  16. Bosnia and Herzegovina*
  17. Brazil*
  18. Brunei Darussalam*
  19. Bulgaria*
  20. Burkina Faso*
  21. Burundi*
  22. Cabo Verde*
  23. Cambodia*
  24. Cameroon*
  25. Canada*
  26. Central African Republic*
  27. Chile*
  28. China*
  29. Colombia*
  30. Congo*
  31. Costa Rica*
  32. Cote d’Ivoire*
  33. Croatia*
  34. Cuba*
  35. Cyprus*
  36. Czech Republic*
  37. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea*
  38. Democratic Republic of Congo*
  39. Denmark*
  40. Djibouti
  41. Dominica*
  42. Dominican Republic*
  43. Eritrea*
  44. Estonia
  45. European Union
  46. Fiji**
  47. Finland*
  48. France*
  49. Gabon*
  50. Georgia*
  51. Germany*
  52. Ghana
  53. Greece
  54. Grenada*
  55. Guatemala*
  56. Guinea
  57. Guyana*
  58. Haiti*
  59. Honduras*
  60. Hungary
  61. Iceland
  62. India
  63. Indonesia*
  64. Iran (Islamic Republic of) *
  65. Israel*
  66. Italy*
  67. Jamaica*
  68. Japan
  69. Kenya*
  70. Kiribati*
  71. Kuwait*
  72. Lao People’s Democratic Republic*
  73. Latvia*
  74. Lebanon*
  75. Libya*
  76. Liechtenstein*
  77. Lithuania*
  78. Luxembourg*
  79. Madagascar*
  80. Malaysia*
  81. Maldives**
  82. Mali*
  83. Malta*
  84. Marshall Islands*
  85. Mauritius*
  86. Mexico
  87. Micronesia (Federated States of) *
  88. Monaco*
  89. Mongolia
  90. Montenegro*
  91. Morocco*
  92. Mozambique
  93. Myanmar*
  94. Namibia*
  95. Nauru**
  96. Nepal
  97. New Zealand*
  98. Niger*
  99. Norway*
  100. Oman*
  101. Pakistan*
  102. Palau*
  103. Panama*
  104. Papua New Guinea*
  105. Paraguay*
  106. Peru*
  107. Philippines*
  108. Poland*
  109. Portugal*
  110. Republic of Korea
  111. Romania
  112. Rwanda*
  113. Saint Kitts and Nevis*
  114. Saint Lucia**
  115. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*
  116. Samoa**
  117. San Marino*
  118. Sao Tome and Principe
  119. Senegal*
  120. Serbia*
  121. Sierra Leone*
  122. Singapore*
  123. Slovakia*
  124. Slovenia*
  125. Solomon Islands*
  126. Somalia*
  127. South Africa*
  128. South Sudan*
  129. Spain*
  130. Sri Lanka*
  131. State of Palestine*
  132. Sudan*
  133. Suriname
  134. Swaziland*
  135. Sweden*
  136. Switzerland*
  137. Tajikistan
  138. Thailand
  139. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*
  140. Timor-Leste*
  141. Togo*
  142. Tonga*
  143. Tunisia*
  144. Turkey
  145. Tuvalu**
  146. Uganda*
  147. United Arab Emirates
  148. United Kingdom*
  149. United Republic of Tanzania*
  150. United States of America*
  151. Uruguay*
  152. Vanuatu*
  153. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) *
  154. Viet Nam*
  155. Zimbabwe*

(*) States that have indicated that they intend to sign the Paris Agreement at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.

(**) States that have indicated that they intend to sign the Paris Agreement and deposit their instrument of ratification at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.

No asterisk indicates that informal confirmation has been received.

Norway’s SWF drops 52 firms with ties to coal

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Norway’s SWF drops 52 firms with ties to coal

Norway’s $860 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has unveiled the first list of miners and power producers to be excluded from its portfolio following a ban on coal investments.

NBIM spokeswoman, Marthe Skaar
NBIM spokeswoman, Marthe Skaar

The 52 companies being barred include American Electric Power Co. Inc., China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., Whitehaven Coal Ltd., Tata Power Co. and Peabody Energy Corp., according to a statement from Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the unit of Norway’s central bank that manages the world’s biggest wealth fund. The exclusions are based on new criteria introduced by the government in February impacting companies that base at least 30 percent of their activities or revenues on coal.

“We’re reviewing all relevant companies by the end of 2016, and there will be further exclusions,” NBIM spokeswoman Marthe Skaar said by phone.

 

Already Sold

The fund has already divested stocks and bonds from the 52 companies, Skaar said. Based on current valuations and allocations in line with the fund’s benchmark index, the securities would represent about 19 billion kroner ($2.3 billion), she said. Most of the companies were out of the portfolio by the end of 2015 because 28 of them overlap with a list of so-called risk-based divestments, which the fund initiated as early as 2013, before it was clear there would be a new exclusion criterion based on coal, she said.

Norges Bank has estimated that the ban on coal investments, which was agreed in Parliament last year against the initial reluctance of Norway’s minority, Conservative-led government, would force the fund to sell holdings valued at about 55 billion kroner in 120 companies. The central bank said in a letter to the Finance Ministry last year that most of the companies will have been evaluated by the end of 2016, and that some could remain in the investment portfolio while the fund continued a dialog on their future use of coal.

“We look at the companies’ plans for the future in a one- to three-year perspective, and that can affect whether the companies are excluded or not,” Skaar said. “If a company plans to go below 30 percent, we can stay invested.”

 

Disappointing Response

The analysis process based on the new criterion is “comprehensive and demanding,” and the fund is struggling to obtain sufficiently detailed information from the companies, meaning it also relies on other sources, Skaar said.

“Before we make anything public, we will contact the relevant companies to seek information,” she said. “This time we sent 50 letters, and got only five replies. That’s a bit disappointing.”

In a related development, the Norway’s Climate and Environment Ministry has signed an agreement to buy UN-certified carbon credits from three of Scatec Solar’s power plants in West Africa. About 330,000 tons of CO2 emissions will be avoided from these solar plants during a three-year period ending 2020. The Purchase Agreement for the Certified Emission Reduction (CER) includes an option to extend the contract thereafter.

“Carbon offsets ensures that sustainable projects are implemented with the lowest possible risk. This contributes to the growth of solar energy in developing countries, which in turn allows for better and more stable energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions,” says Climate and Environment Minister Vidar Helgesen.

The Agreement marks a major milestone in the implementation of Scatec Solar’s global carbon strategy that aims to stimulate carbon and climate finance to accelerate deployment of solar power in the countries most in need of it.

Scatec Solar develops, builds, owns and operates solar PV plants in emerging markets, focusing on projects that meet the high sustainability criteria set by the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). “As a partner for climate action, Scatec Solar attaches great importance to this because we believe the United Nations mechanisms provide the highest level of environmental integrity available in the marketplace,” says Terje Osmundsen, Scatec Solar’s Vice President for Business Development.

The first three West African projects to be included in the agreement are being developed by Scatec Solar in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana, says Minister Helgesen. “This region is struggling with major energy shortage, large populations without access to electricity, dependence on fossil fuels and high energy costs.”

The carbon credit agreement will lower the capital cost risks for clean and sustainable projects. This in turn will contribute to the growth of solar plants in these sun-rich countries, enable local utilities to improve grid networks and generate more solar electricity to fuel development and improve people’s lives.

Carbon credits are valid for Scatec Solar’s UN-compliant projects in other developing countries as well.  “Over half of all developing countries stated that they wish to continue using the CDM to help deliver national climate change plans submitted for the Paris talks last year” says Daniel Rossetto, Managing Director of Climate Mundial, Scatec Solar’s carbon & climate finance advisor. “Scatec Solar’s carbon program therefore positions it to make a very important contribution to countries’ climate ambitions both before and beyond 2020”.

About 600,000 tons of carbon emissions will be avoided in 2016 from Scatec Solar’s power plants operating in South Africa, Rwanda, Czech Republic, the United States and Honduras. This is set to increase to 2 million tons by the end of 2018 with the commissioning of several more solar plants.

By Mikael Holter (Bloomberg)

Don’t sign the Paris Agreement

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Don’t sign the Paris Agreement

Of what use is it for poor nations to sign up to an agreement will add up to nothing? What would Nigeria or Africa gain by endorsing the agreement? demands Nnimmo Bassey, who is Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), as he makes a case against the Paris Agreement

Jubilation greeted the adoption of the Paris Agreement last December in Paris, France. Photo credit: unfccc.int
Jubilation greeted the adoption of the Paris Agreement last December in Paris, France. Photo credit: unfccc.int

It is not late to stand up against the Paris Agreement that will see the sinking of Small Island states and the roasting of Africa – a continent uniquely exposed to the vagaries of global warming. Of what use is it for poor vulnerable nations to smile to the cameras, signing up to an agreement to do things that will add up to nothing, and with the backdrop that they never contributed to the problem in the first instance. What would Nigeria or any African country gain by endorsing this hollow agreement?

What is needed is for the big polluters to line up and sign an agreement to keep fossils in the ground and urgently ensure a just transition to renewable energy. That is when we will know that there is a climate agreement. Signing the Paris Agreement on Earth Day (22 April 2016) is a poking of fossil fingers in our collective faces and an affront to Mother Earth.

The achievement of the Paris conference was that all nations agreed to take some sort of climate action. This means little if what they promise to do are mere intentions rather scientifically determined levels of emissions reduction based on their current levels of greenhouse gas emissions as well as on historical responsibility.

The expected climate actions are based on Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). These INDCs as the name suggests are what each country proposes to do about cutting their emissions. Many of the countries have stated that they would only take certain actions based on some conditions such as availability of finance and technology.

Particularly worrisome is the fact that the world has already warmed up by 1 degree Celsius above pre industrial levels. If all the nations put their INDCs into action, average global temperatures will rise above 3 degrees Celsius, according to analysts. That would be beyond the tipping point by which the world would cascade into irreversible or cataclysmic climate and ecological change.

The Paris Agreement locks in fossil fuels and, to underscore corporate capture of the negotiations, the word, fossil, is not as much as mention the document. It is shocking that although the burning of fossil fuels is known to be a major contributor to global warming, climate negotiations engage in platitudes rather than going to the core of the problem. Scientists tell us that burning of fossil fuels would have to end by 2030 if there would be a chance of keeping temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The signal we get from the silence on the fossils factor is that oil and coal companies can continue to extract profit while burning the planet.

The agreement is hollow with regard to climate finance because raising necessary funds remains aspirational while rich nations spend trillions of US dollars on war efforts that deepen climate vulnerability of target nations and regions. Loss and damage from irreparable climate impacts remain the imposed burdens that vulnerable nations will continue to suffer.

Signing the Paris Agreement is nothing but letting the polluters off the hook, and burning the innocent to boot. It is time to keep fossils in the ground. Addictions may be hard to break, but for our survival, it is time to break free from fossil fuels.

Activists want Africa to decentralise renewable energy initiatives

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Activists want Africa to decentralise renewable energy initiatives

African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for the need to decentralise renewable energy and make it people centred.

Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), one of the several key individuals who spoke at the event Photo credit: cloudfront.net
Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), one of the several key individuals who spoke at the event Photo credit: cloudfront.net

The CSOs echoed their voices over the weekend at the sidelines of the sixth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) holding in Cairo, Egypt.

In his remarks during the presentations on post-Paris conversations on climate change, renewable energy, energy transformation and access in Africa, Mithika Mwenda, who represents millions of African farmers, women and youth groups under the umbrella of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), urged African governments to work towards ensuring that energy is decentralised and not concentrated on urban areas only.

Mithika added that initiatives such as the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) need to consider how local communities can benefit from energy instead of focusing on big corporations whose profit-oriented actions favour the urban areas.

Reinforcing the same line of thinking, Augustine Njamnshi from Cameroon stated: “There is need to invest in decentralised production and use of renewable energy and to make it community-driven if we are serious about transforming people’s lives with energy.”

Civil society actors from across Africa also stressed the need to correct the erroneous impression that energy only means lighting up people’s homes. It is for this reason that the CSOs agreed that there is need for AREI and indeed other renewable energy initiatives on the continent to look at energy in a much broader context.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, representing Mbororo pastoralists in Chad and co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, said there is need to look at energy as veritable means to food security, job creation, poverty reduction among other several key social-economic developments that come with availability and accessibility to energy.

“The most urgent need for someone in rural area is food, lighting up the home only comes as a secondary need. We therefore need to take into account how energy can bring food to Africans and that is energy for agricultural production. Energy is more than just lighting up homes,” she said.

Dr Ahmed Hegazi, head of Water Engineering and Renewable Energy Unit at the Nuclear Research Centre in Egypt, added that energy is a catalyst for development without which there can never be development.

The CSOs’ meeting resolutions will be shared with the African Ministerial Conference of Environment (AMCEN) holding in Cairo. The nagging issue at both the CSOs’ meeting and AMCEN is the issue of renewable energy and how it can transform people’s lives in a continent that is reeling under perennial energy gap.

Statistics from the African Development Bank (AfDB) show that over 640 million Africans have no access to electricity. Africa is known for its darkness, not for its light. Also, over 700 million Africans have no access to clean cooking energy. The bank further reveals that Africa loses 600,000 people every year through indoor pollution as a result of relying on charcoal, kerosene and fuel wood.

Dr. Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment of Egypt and President of AMCEN, believes that “it is of paramount importance that this AMCEN session addresses the way forward for swift implementation of the African Renewable Energy Initiative as well as the African Adaptation Initiative.”

AMCEN: Africa’s natural reserves, climate pact top agenda

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AMCEN: Africa’s natural reserves, climate pact top agenda

The need to sustainably harness Africa’s vast reserves of natural capital and the implications of the Paris Agreement dominated the opening session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Cairo, Egypt.

Opening session of the AMCEN6 in Cairo, Egypt
Opening session of the AMCEN6 in Cairo, Egypt

Attended by the ministers of the environment and high-level officials from more than 40 African countries, the sixth special session of the AMCEN has “Agenda 2030 and Paris Agreement: From policy to implementation in Africa” as its theme.

Dr. Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment of Egypt and President of AMCEN, said: “Egypt is proud to host the sixth special session of the AMCEN in Cairo at this important moment in time. The continent stands to determine its development priorities in the context of the sustainable development goals. It is crucial for us to clearly define common priorities and the means to achieve our objectives at the regional and national levels.

“To meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is crucial that Africa confronts some of the biggest problems facing the continent, be it climate change or disease, poverty or the degradation of our ecosystems.

“It is of paramount importance that this session addresses the way forward for swift implementation of the African Renewable Energy Initiative as well as the African Adaptation Initiative.

“The outcome of this important conference will be communicated at the upcoming United Nations Environment Assembly, where our work here at AMCEN will feed into global efforts to find solutions to some of the most critical issues of our time.”

At AMCEN, ministers and government representatives are also expected to come up with ways for Africa to engage in the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), which will be held in Nairobi next month.

African ministers are also expected to agree on the key steps needed to speed up the region’s efforts to combat climate change, following the landmark Paris Agreement adopted by 195 countries in December.

The agreement, which will be signed by over 130 countries this week, aims to keep the global temperature rise this century to well below 2°C and to drive efforts to limit the temperature rise even further – to 1.5°C degrees above pre-industrial levels.

In particular, the ministers will focus on the Africa Adaptation Initiative, which provides means for African countries to build resilience to the impacts of climate change, and the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, which seeks to foster renewable energy capacity on the continent by 2020.

In addition, ministers will look at how Africa can benefit from the finance, adaptation, and loss and damage provisions agreed upon in Paris.

The meeting is expected to produce strategies for tackling key issues facing the continent, such as the illegal trade in wildlife. It is estimated that the loss of elephants – a key tourist attraction – costs Africa up to $1.9 billion annually.

High level officials at this sixth special session will discuss ways to reverse these losses and redirect the revenue into African economies to drive the continent’s transformation, alleviating poverty, reducing hunger, providing access to clean energy and improving education and health.

Sustainable use of Africa’s natural capital could result in savings of up to $103 billion every year for the region and drive economic growth to help Africa achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the continent’s Agenda 2063.

Africa holds 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves, roughly 65 per cent of its arable land and 10 per cent of its freshwater resources. Its fisheries are estimated to be worth $24 billion and the continent boasts the second largest tropical forest in the world.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Deputy Executive Director, Ibrahim Thiaw, said: “The AMCEN meeting comes at a critical point in time for the environment. With the adoption of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs, the world has agreed upon a roadmap that charts a better future for humanity and the ecosystems that sustain it. At UNEA-2, the world will set the stage for the implementation of these goals and drive the world towards a better, more sustainable future.

“Key to achieving the vision laid out in the 2030 Agenda will be finding ways to make the most of Africa’s rich reserves of natural capital while protecting the environment and lifting people out of poverty.”

According to conservative estimates, the continent loses as much as $195 billion every year from resource plunder, illegal logging, illegal trade in wildlife, unregulated fishing, illegal mining practices, high food imports and degraded ecosystems.

Representatives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), sub-regional economic communities, the African Development Bank, civil society organisations, United Nations agencies as well as other bilateral and multilateral partners will also participate in this special session.

AMCEN was established in 1985 to promote regional cooperation in addressing environmental issues affecting Africa. UNEP serves as the Secretariat of AMCEN and also provides both technical and financial support to the Conference.

Regular sessions of AMCEN are convened every second year, with the most recent one being the 15th session that was held in Cairo, Egypt in March 2015. In addition, several special sessions have been convened to consider specific issues of concern.

AMCEN is critical in providing strong leadership on environmental and sustainable development matters in Africa. Through its strong convening power, it brings together African Governments to deliberate and craft common positions on important environmental issues for the region.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is believed to be the world’s most powerful decision-making body on the environment and the de-facto “Parliament for the Environment” responsible for tackling some of the most critical issues of our time. The assembly holds the power to dramatically change the fate of the planet and improve the lives of everyone, impacting everything from health to national security, from the plastic in our oceans to the trafficking of wildlife. Thanks to UNEA, the environment is now considered one of the world’s most pressing concerns alongside other major global issues such as peace, security, finance and health.

This year in May, hundreds of key decision makers, businesses and representatives of intergovernmental organisations and civil society will gather at UNEA 2 at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, for one of the first major meetings since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement. The resolutions passed at UNEA-2 will set the stage for early action on implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and drive the world towards a better and sustainable future.

Fresh concern over fatal explosions at Agip oilfields

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Fresh concern over fatal explosions at Agip oilfields

A trio of blasts occurring within eight months at facilities operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) has raised fresh concerns over safety procedures and status of the firm’s operation.

The scene of one of the explosions
The scene of one of the explosions

Seventeen persons have lost their lives as a result of three explosions in NAOC fields, with the most recent being March 26, 2016. The first occurred July 9, 2015 followed by an incident on February 16, 2016 which did not result in any death.

The incident of July 9, 2015 at Azuzuama claimed 14 persons, while that of March 26, 2016, resulted in three casualties.

The unsavoury development has prompted Lagos-based environment watchdog, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), to demand a comprehensive audit of safety procedures at Agip oilfields in Bayelsa State. The group is also calling for a revocation of the company’s license if investigations show negligence led to the deaths.

The ERA/FoEN, in a statement issued in Lagos, said the frequent explosions in oil fields operated by NAOC indicated that the company may have breached safety procedures at the cost of the lives of Nigerians.

The ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo, was quoted in the statement as saying: “This is totally unacceptable. We have noticed a systematic pattern of decimation in the way NAOC carries on with its activities in the Niger Delta communities that host its facilities. Not only is the negligence of Agip reprehensible, it has cost our people their lives and livelihoods and must be investigated.”

Dr Ojo recommended the setting up of an investigative panel of enquiry by the federal and Bayelsa state governments to get to the root of the matter with appropriate sanctions on NAOC if it is found wanting, and compensation for victims’ families.

“Community people in Southern Ijaw LGA are fed up with the usual rhetoric of Agip to evade responsibility. We demand that community representatives and the civil society be also given an opportunity to contribute towards such an effort to bring out the truth of the matter.

The ERA/FoEN boss further recommended that autopsy be carried out on the victims of the explosions to determine the actual cause of their deaths.

“The corporate impunity of NOAC should not be allowed to pass by the Federal Government. NAOC is liable to prosecution on environmental crime of ecocide and harm to Mother Earth. We demand an immediate revocation of NOAC license by these frequent deaths of our people in the oilfield almost on a daily basis,” he added.

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